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We should drop the Pistol formations we've been running a lot these last two games. Maybe those plays are wrinkles we're implementing for Kaepernick, at some point, but those aren't the most effective formations we run. Our offense was at its best against the Jets and Bills, when we focused on power running and playaction. The last two games, we went away from the playaction (still did it a little, but not as much). I know the Bills weren't a great defense, but the playaction was deadly.

The positive point about the Seahawks game was perhaps the screen passes. We had more in that one game than in the whole of 2011, and with the athleticism of our OL, we'd be stupid not to use it more.

Yes, Alex hasn't be very good lately. But I can't understand why we keep getting away from what works for us (power running + playaction) for long stretches or entire games. Even against the Giants... the run was working well enough, and we got away from it. Same thing we did in the NFCCG, in the third quarter, when our running game was gaining yards consistently. It's frustrating. Just go with what works, then we wouldn't even have this discussion about Alex. Is he limiting our offense? I don't buy that. You tailor your offense to your players strength, and from there, your offense can be as potent as you make it. People look at totals and think we have a balanced offense, based on pass attempts and rush attempts at the end of the game, but the problem is that often, we'll go heavy running, then heavy passing, then heavy running, then heavy passing. That's not a balanced offense, that's a bipolar offense. A balance offense mixes in both and keeps defenses on their heels. We don't do that enough. I think we can beat any defense, no matter how good, if we just play to our strengths (mostly our athleticism and power running) and don't try to force our offense to be something it is not (a heavy pocket passing offense).

I agree with you in that we should stick with the heavy run and mix in the run. But can you imagine how unstoppable we'd be if those pass plays worked? If we mix in some pass and it doesn't work then teams won't respect that aspect of our game. I'd like for Alex to at least throw his WR's open once in a while to open up this offense. It's really not hard to defend against him. If you cover his receivers, he won't even attempt to throw. We can't depend on blown coverage all the time. Alex limits our offense in that way.

My point was that during the games where we were truly balanced and passed off the playaction, Alex DID complete these passes. But then we go into a fancy gameplan with a Pistol offense, and THAT, in my opinion, is what limits our offense. We had success with more traditional sets, with the I formation, with a singleback/2 TEs formation, even with 3 WRs sets. I understand that Harbaugh is using different formations just to throw other defenses off, change the angle at which the blocking will come from (mostly with the TEs). But he can do that in so many ways, that doesn't require us to line up in the pistol. I want my QB under center as much as possible, never been a huge fan of the shotgun, even less of the pistol. I use the shotgun as a change of pace, or on 3rd and longs. I don't like it because it limits your offense. I like formations with the QB under center, because you can use a bigger variety of runs, you can pass, you can playaction, you can do everything.

I believe there's also a problem of perception. I think a lot of our plays are bland and non-aggressive by design. We run a lot of plays that have as sole purpose the intent to set up other plays. We use a lot of decoys. We establish a certain amount of play designs and in key situations, we go off these plays. These plays are usually one-read plays, design to get the ball to one player in particular. Like that play in the third quarter, I think, where VD ran a seam route with Crabtree running underneath. That play was set up earlier in the game by VD running an in route, instead. When he went on the streak instead of in, he dragged coverage with him opening up the underneath for Crabtree. My point is, we probably run 2 or 3 bland plays by design in order to set up a play later on. It's not flashy or statistically flattering, but Harbaugh, and by extension Alex, isn't concerned by the short term production, and more concerned by the eventual need to have these plays set up. When we lead, we often don't need to use these set-ups, but they are there in case we need them. As I said, not statistically flattering, and our offense looks weak. But I wouldn't put it past Harbaugh to have it designed exactly like that, because his goal isn't statistical production, but winning.

Of course, we can blame Alex for not making enough out of these early bland plays, and it's true. We paint ourselves into a corner oftentimes by lacking production early in the game. Think what you will, but we are, at least, better than we were this time last year. There is progress, and that progress comes down mostly to Alex progressing. But we shouldn't expect our starting QB to ever be a Brady/Brees/Rodgers/Mannings under Harbaugh. People seem to believe we'd be an explosive offense with CK. I doubt that. We'd still be somewhat conservative and Harbaugh would manage the game in a similar way with CK. CK would probably make more big plays than Alex, but more turnovers as well, so that would probably cancel out. The rest of the time, Harbaugh would attack other teams in the same fashion he's doing right now. Setting up plays, saving them for later, if needed. Not sexy, but with a purpose._________________

We should drop the Pistol formations we've been running a lot these last two games. Maybe those plays are wrinkles we're implementing for Kaepernick, at some point, but those aren't the most effective formations we run. Our offense was at its best against the Jets and Bills, when we focused on power running and playaction. The last two games, we went away from the playaction (still did it a little, but not as much). I know the Bills weren't a great defense, but the playaction was deadly.

The positive point about the Seahawks game was perhaps the screen passes. We had more in that one game than in the whole of 2011, and with the athleticism of our OL, we'd be stupid not to use it more.

Yes, Alex hasn't be very good lately. But I can't understand why we keep getting away from what works for us (power running + playaction) for long stretches or entire games. Even against the Giants... the run was working well enough, and we got away from it. Same thing we did in the NFCCG, in the third quarter, when our running game was gaining yards consistently. It's frustrating. Just go with what works, then we wouldn't even have this discussion about Alex. Is he limiting our offense? I don't buy that. You tailor your offense to your players strength, and from there, your offense can be as potent as you make it. People look at totals and think we have a balanced offense, based on pass attempts and rush attempts at the end of the game, but the problem is that often, we'll go heavy running, then heavy passing, then heavy running, then heavy passing. That's not a balanced offense, that's a bipolar offense. A balance offense mixes in both and keeps defenses on their heels. We don't do that enough. I think we can beat any defense, no matter how good, if we just play to our strengths (mostly our athleticism and power running) and don't try to force our offense to be something it is not (a heavy pocket passing offense).

I agree with you in that we should stick with the heavy run and mix in the run. But can you imagine how unstoppable we'd be if those pass plays worked? If we mix in some pass and it doesn't work then teams won't respect that aspect of our game. I'd like for Alex to at least throw his WR's open once in a while to open up this offense. It's really not hard to defend against him. If you cover his receivers, he won't even attempt to throw. We can't depend on blown coverage all the time. Alex limits our offense in that way.

My point was that during the games where we were truly balanced and passed off the playaction, Alex DID complete these passes. But then we go into a fancy gameplan with a Pistol offense, and THAT, in my opinion, is what limits our offense. We had success with more traditional sets, with the I formation, with a singleback/2 TEs formation, even with 3 WRs sets. I understand that Harbaugh is using different formations just to throw other defenses off, change the angle at which the blocking will come from (mostly with the TEs). But he can do that in so many ways, that doesn't require us to line up in the pistol. I want my QB under center as much as possible, never been a huge fan of the shotgun, even less of the pistol. I use the shotgun as a change of pace, or on 3rd and longs. I don't like it because it limits your offense. I like formations with the QB under center, because you can use a bigger variety of runs, you can pass, you can playaction, you can do everything.

I completely agree, I'm not a big fan of cute flashy offenses. However, I do like it when he have unique run formations.

I believe there's also a problem of perception. I think a lot of our plays are bland and non-aggressive by design. We run a lot of plays that have as sole purpose the intent to set up other plays. We use a lot of decoys. We establish a certain amount of play designs and in key situations, we go off these plays. These plays are usually one-read plays, design to get the ball to one player in particular. Like that play in the third quarter, I think, where VD ran a seam route with Crabtree running underneath. That play was set up earlier in the game by VD running an in route, instead. When he went on the streak instead of in, he dragged coverage with him opening up the underneath for Crabtree. My point is, we probably run 2 or 3 bland plays by design in order to set up a play later on. It's not flashy or statistically flattering, but Harbaugh, and by extension Alex, isn't concerned by the short term production, and more concerned by the eventual need to have these plays set up. When we lead, we often don't need to use these set-ups, but they are there in case we need them. As I said, not statistically flattering, and our offense looks weak. But I wouldn't put it past Harbaugh to have it designed exactly like that, because his goal isn't statistical production, but winning.

Of course, we can blame Alex for not making enough out of these early bland plays, and it's true. We paint ourselves into a corner oftentimes by lacking production early in the game. Think what you will, but we are, at least, better than we were this time last year. There is progress, and that progress comes down mostly to Alex progressing. But we shouldn't expect our starting QB to ever be a Brady/Brees/Rodgers/Mannings under Harbaugh. People seem to believe we'd be an explosive offense with CK. I doubt that. We'd still be somewhat conservative and Harbaugh would manage the game in a similar way with CK. CK would probably make more big plays than Alex, but more turnovers as well, so that would probably cancel out. The rest of the time, Harbaugh would attack other teams in the same fashion he's doing right now. Setting up plays, saving them for later, if needed. Not sexy, but with a purpose.

I understand and see what you mean by our plays being bland by design, and it is possible. You've heard this many times, and I'm going to say it again, Alex decides where the ball goes. It's obvious that he will wait for his guy to be completely open, not just a by little, but by a lot, or he won't throw it. When you run bland plays, I'd think that you would want you QB to make up for the "blandness" (if that makes any sense at all).

I'm not asking for a guy to sling it like there's no tomorrow, but is it too much to ask for our QB to just buckle down and play the position? Just take advantage of a defender with you see a small window start to open, and not wait until it's completely open. Do I think we'd be a more explosive offense with CK? Yes I do, because even if Harbaugh goes with the same game plan, I feel that CK would push the ball a lot more than Alex.

Not attacking you or anything, but why does everyone seem to think that Harbaugh is saving things for later? There really hasn't been much proof of him doing so.

“I can’t say for sure. He’s not the kind of guy that would ever say it and none of us are, that would publicly make any excuse or rationalization. I know him. And I wouldn’t disgrace him by saying it was, publicly. I know the kind of guy he is and the kind of competitor he is … It’s good. It’s getting better.”

So in Harbaugh code......yes, it is his finger and it's bothering him.

His accuracy and arm strength/velocity has been lacking lately, but its just part of the problem. Running away from phantom pressure in the pocket, taking multiple unnecessary coverage sacks (a season long problem), poor decision making.

But his finger being hurt would explain how he goes from the best game of his career to crap, if at least partially. Whats the timeline on this kind of injury?

The biggest lie about Harbaugh on this board is he likes conservative, low scoring games. Power football. That's the farthest thing from the truth. We all started saying that last year when we started winning low scoring games and great defense. If you go and Watch this staffs game plan in college, they played like Muhammed Ali. They would basically just sit and wait, get you tired, feel you out. Then they would pull out all the stops and all of the sudden Stanford would of put up 30 points in 15 minutes of possession. I can see Harbaugh TRYING to do the same exact thing at this level. We call it "getting cute" or sometimes Straying away from what works(which I still don't agree with at times) The reason he does this is the same reason why a pitcher uses the change-up/fastball/slider combo. If you can have the run/quick pass/explosive pass(what we lack) You are impossible to defend against. So why aren't we seeing this?

Last year we all rode the Alex train last because he would make couple really good plays (in context, like rushing for a first down to kill the clock or something). We all sort of went with it and rode it because ALL of us want to see Smith do well and we were playing a conservative brand of football due to the lockout. And the argument was no longer if he can do it, the argument is now "Can and will he ever do it consistently?". Since the NO game he has been night and day from game to game.

Here is my general opinion of all his games.

NO-very average first half, terrible 3rd Quarter, Joe Montana Reincarnate in the fourth.
NYG-Absolutely useless in this game.
GB-Surgical
DET-Very good.
Minnesota-Below Average, terrible in the clutch
NYJ-Good game
Buf-Good game, but total team domination.
NYG-Absolute crap
SEA-Below Average, dumb play at the end.

I'm keeping it vague for the sake of not focusing on specifics but just to get everyone to think about his game to game performance.

So to ask again, why aren't we able to be the high scoring explosive offense Harbaugh wants? We know we have a plethora of talent on offense...I don't know, I'm not an expert...but it's very much starting to seem like the hyper conservative nature of Alex Smith is only going to take us so far and is limiting us in certain aspects of the offense.

What's most upsetting for me is I see these flashes of absolute brilliance. Burning defenses effortlessly. That NO game epitomizes what Alex Smith is to a lot of people. Sort of meh for a while, absolute crap, then when he finally cuts it loose? Voila: The Catch 3. WHY CAN'T WE GET THIS GUY ALL THE TIME. Luck had balls when he played at Stanford, he would throw into double coverage a lot. Not ONCE did I ever see Harbaugh get pissed at him on the sideline. Simply put, the Roman and Harbaugh offenses put a premium on scoring above not turning the ball over...it just does not look like that for some reason..

I don't know. The jury is still out. I still think Smith can get it done and we can win a superbowl with him. But if everyone keeps up with their level of play(everyone has been good, if not great at times)...and we don't win a superbowl...we should have a pretty good reason as to why._________________
xsaMainevent on the sig

The biggest lie about Harbaugh on this board is he likes conservative, low scoring games. Power football. That's the farthest thing from the truth. We all started saying that last year when we started winning low scoring games and great defense. If you go and Watch this staffs game plan in college, they played like Muhammed Ali. They would basically just sit and wait, get you tired, feel you out. Then they would pull out all the stops and all of the sudden Stanford would of put up 30 points in 15 minutes of possession. I can see Harbaugh TRYING to do the same exact thing at this level. We call it "getting cute" or sometimes Straying away from what works(which I still don't agree with at times) The reason he does this is the same reason why a pitcher uses the change-up/fastball/slider combo. If you can have the run/quick pass/explosive pass(what we lack) You are impossible to defend against. So why aren't we seeing this?

Last year we all rode the Alex train last because he would make couple really good plays (in context, like rushing for a first down to kill the clock or something). We all sort of went with it and rode it because ALL of us want to see Smith do well and we were playing a conservative brand of football due to the lockout. And the argument was no longer if he can do it, the argument is now "Can and will he ever do it consistently?". Since the NO game he has been night and day from game to game.

Here is my general opinion of all his games.

NO-very average first half, terrible 3rd Quarter, Joe Montana Reincarnate in the fourth.
NYG-Absolutely useless in this game.
GB-Surgical
DET-Very good.
Minnesota-Below Average, terrible in the clutch
NYJ-Good game
Buf-Good game, but total team domination.
NYG-Absolute crap
SEA-Below Average, dumb play at the end.

I'm keeping it vague for the sake of not focusing on specifics but just to get everyone to think about his game to game performance.

So to ask again, why aren't we able to be the high scoring explosive offense Harbaugh wants? We know we have a plethora of talent on offense...I don't know, I'm not an expert...but it's very much starting to seem like the hyper conservative nature of Alex Smith is only going to take us so far and is limiting us in certain aspects of the offense.

What's most upsetting for me is I see these flashes of absolute brilliance. Burning defenses effortlessly. That NO game epitomizes what Alex Smith is to a lot of people. Sort of meh for a while, absolute crap, then when he finally cuts it loose? Voila: The Catch 3. WHY CAN'T WE GET THIS GUY ALL THE TIME. Luck had balls when he played at Stanford, he would throw into double coverage a lot. Not ONCE did I ever see Harbaugh get pissed at him on the sideline. Simply put, the Roman and Harbaugh offenses put a premium on scoring above not turning the ball over...it just does not look like that for some reason..

I don't know. The jury is still out. I still think Smith can get it done and we can win a superbowl with him. But if everyone keeps up with their level of play(everyone has been good, if not great at times)...and we don't win a superbowl...we should have a pretty good reason as to why.

This guy knows. What you said pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject._________________

The biggest lie about Harbaugh on this board is he likes conservative, low scoring games. Power football. That's the farthest thing from the truth. We all started saying that last year when we started winning low scoring games and great defense. If you go and Watch this staffs game plan in college, they played like Muhammed Ali. They would basically just sit and wait, get you tired, feel you out. Then they would pull out all the stops and all of the sudden Stanford would of put up 30 points in 15 minutes of possession. I can see Harbaugh TRYING to do the same exact thing at this level. We call it "getting cute" or sometimes Straying away from what works(which I still don't agree with at times) The reason he does this is the same reason why a pitcher uses the change-up/fastball/slider combo. If you can have the run/quick pass/explosive pass(what we lack) You are impossible to defend against. So why aren't we seeing this?

Last year we all rode the Alex train last because he would make couple really good plays (in context, like rushing for a first down to kill the clock or something). We all sort of went with it and rode it because ALL of us want to see Smith do well and we were playing a conservative brand of football due to the lockout. And the argument was no longer if he can do it, the argument is now "Can and will he ever do it consistently?". Since the NO game he has been night and day from game to game.

Here is my general opinion of all his games.

NO-very average first half, terrible 3rd Quarter, Joe Montana Reincarnate in the fourth.
NYG-Absolutely useless in this game.
GB-Surgical
DET-Very good.
Minnesota-Below Average, terrible in the clutch
NYJ-Good game
Buf-Good game, but total team domination.
NYG-Absolute crap
SEA-Below Average, dumb play at the end.

I'm keeping it vague for the sake of not focusing on specifics but just to get everyone to think about his game to game performance.

So to ask again, why aren't we able to be the high scoring explosive offense Harbaugh wants? We know we have a plethora of talent on offense...I don't know, I'm not an expert...but it's very much starting to seem like the hyper conservative nature of Alex Smith is only going to take us so far and is limiting us in certain aspects of the offense.

What's most upsetting for me is I see these flashes of absolute brilliance. Burning defenses effortlessly. That NO game epitomizes what Alex Smith is to a lot of people. Sort of meh for a while, absolute crap, then when he finally cuts it loose? Voila: The Catch 3. WHY CAN'T WE GET THIS GUY ALL THE TIME. Luck had balls when he played at Stanford, he would throw into double coverage a lot. Not ONCE did I ever see Harbaugh get pissed at him on the sideline. Simply put, the Roman and Harbaugh offenses put a premium on scoring above not turning the ball over...it just does not look like that for some reason..

I don't know. The jury is still out. I still think Smith can get it done and we can win a superbowl with him. But if everyone keeps up with their level of play(everyone has been good, if not great at times)...and we don't win a superbowl...we should have a pretty good reason as to why.

bolded is exactly how I feel but it is what it is to borrow a cliche.. just gotta live with it until something happens, good or bad.

The biggest lie about Harbaugh on this board is he likes conservative, low scoring games. Power football. That's the farthest thing from the truth. We all started saying that last year when we started winning low scoring games and great defense. If you go and Watch this staffs game plan in college, they played like Muhammed Ali. They would basically just sit and wait, get you tired, feel you out. Then they would pull out all the stops and all of the sudden Stanford would of put up 30 points in 15 minutes of possession. I can see Harbaugh TRYING to do the same exact thing at this level. We call it "getting cute" or sometimes Straying away from what works(which I still don't agree with at times) The reason he does this is the same reason why a pitcher uses the change-up/fastball/slider combo. If you can have the run/quick pass/explosive pass(what we lack) You are impossible to defend against. So why aren't we seeing this?

Last year we all rode the Alex train last because he would make couple really good plays (in context, like rushing for a first down to kill the clock or something). We all sort of went with it and rode it because ALL of us want to see Smith do well and we were playing a conservative brand of football due to the lockout. And the argument was no longer if he can do it, the argument is now "Can and will he ever do it consistently?". Since the NO game he has been night and day from game to game.

Here is my general opinion of all his games.

NO-very average first half, terrible 3rd Quarter, Joe Montana Reincarnate in the fourth.
NYG-Absolutely useless in this game.
GB-Surgical
DET-Very good.
Minnesota-Below Average, terrible in the clutch
NYJ-Good game
Buf-Good game, but total team domination.
NYG-Absolute crap
SEA-Below Average, dumb play at the end.

I'm keeping it vague for the sake of not focusing on specifics but just to get everyone to think about his game to game performance.

So to ask again, why aren't we able to be the high scoring explosive offense Harbaugh wants? We know we have a plethora of talent on offense...I don't know, I'm not an expert...but it's very much starting to seem like the hyper conservative nature of Alex Smith is only going to take us so far and is limiting us in certain aspects of the offense.

What's most upsetting for me is I see these flashes of absolute brilliance. Burning defenses effortlessly. That NO game epitomizes what Alex Smith is to a lot of people. Sort of meh for a while, absolute crap, then when he finally cuts it loose? Voila: The Catch 3. WHY CAN'T WE GET THIS GUY ALL THE TIME. Luck had balls when he played at Stanford, he would throw into double coverage a lot. Not ONCE did I ever see Harbaugh get pissed at him on the sideline. Simply put, the Roman and Harbaugh offenses put a premium on scoring above not turning the ball over...it just does not look like that for some reason..

I don't know. The jury is still out. I still think Smith can get it done and we can win a superbowl with him. But if everyone keeps up with their level of play(everyone has been good, if not great at times)...and we don't win a superbowl...we should have a pretty good reason as to why.

I don't like comparing the gameplanning to his days in college for one simple reason: Harbaugh had a responsibility towards these young guys. Yes, he wanted to win, he had to win, he was hired to win. But when he recruited his guys, he also had to tell them he would make them NFL prospects at some point. If you recruit Andrew Luck, you have to let him throw, otherwise he doesn't become a first overall pick. That's the responsibility Harbaugh had in college that he doesn't have in the pro. His only responsibility in the pro is to win, win and.. uhh... yeah right... WIN!! In the NFL, you replenish your roster in two ways, usually. By drafting players, who don't have a choice to show up and play. And often by signing veteran free agents who want to WIN. Do you think Moss and Manningham signed with us because they thought they would be padding their stats? How about Brandon Jacobs, who knew he would be 3rd in the depth chart? These guys came here to win, nothing else (except Jacobs, who also wanted to stick it to the Giants).

We do see evidences of plays saved up for later. The thing is, we don't see them all, or even many of them don't work. Harbaugh/Roman might be somewhat of geniuses at times, but what they are is really mad scientists who try experiment, some work beautifully (QB 9 against the Saints), others fail miserably, and we don't even recognize them, because we just see the result. I'm sure someone would review game tape (oldman, will you?) and take every play ran in the fourth quarter, and could find a play ran earlier in the game with similar structure and movement. The QB 9 play, Alex's 28 yard TD against the Saints... I'm sure we'd look at the tape and find a play where Kyle Williams motions right and runs a drag route, instead of crack-blocking the DE. It's often little things, it's always little things. These guys are mad scientists, and contrary to popular beliefs, mad scientists don't always pull out a monster like Dr Frankenstein. They pull out a lot of useless cadavers as well.

But yeah, Alex is inconsistent as *bleep* and it's annoying, and frustrating, and leaves a bad feeling in my tummy as well. I want him to push it at times too, and I believe he can do it. He can throw the ball as beautifully as any QB in this league. It's Harbaugh's job again to re-build his confidence to the level of Week 1. And I don't think we'd be better off with CK at any point THIS year. I honestly believe that with CK, we don't even get close to winning a playoff game. He'd see too many coverages he has never seen in live action. He'd feel pressure he's never faced before. He'd win many regular season games and make the playoffs, yes. But he's not ready for the playoffs. Alex is. And if we don't win the Superbowl this year, it will only make the transition to CK that much easier next offseason. I believe Harbaugh's press conference speeches and automated answers are all ready. I believe it was in Harbaugh's plans all along, to ease CK in, unless Alex pulls out a miracle, in which case, we'd all be winning anyway._________________

Guys we are 18-5 behind Alex omg Chicken Littlez he's da former #1 overall pickz he ain't even scratched da surface 8 offensive coordinators in 8 years and he was hurt and his confidence was shot and he had stupid idiot head coaches and even now randy moss is dropping passes and uh greg roman calls stupid plays and joe staley is regressing and the defense isnt playing as well!!!!11!!11!

Guys we are 18-5 behind Alex omg Chicken Littlez he's da former #1 overall pickz he ain't even scratched da surface 8 offensive coordinators in 8 years and he was hurt and his confidence was shot and he had stupid idiot head coaches and even now randy moss is dropping passes and uh greg roman calls stupid plays and joe staley is regressing and the defense isnt playing as well!!!!11!!11!